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Ketamine infusion treatment - anyone tried?

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tontoe

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Just been back to my doctor and [again] she doesn't seem to "get" PTSD/CPTSD. She wants me to try yet another SSRI, but antidepressants just seem to turn my symptoms up to number 11 and beyond.
There is a Psychiatrist here at Oxford University in the UK who is trialling Ketamine infusions treatment, and I think I may be able to persuade my doc to refer me. Although it's done within the NHS, there is no funding available so it's expensive, but I would do pretty much anything to get a little peace from the mental and emotional barrage that is assaulting me and my senses almost constantly.
Ketamine is a Class A controlled drug here in the UK, and anyway I would only consider using it if administered by a doctor or anaesthesiologist as the therapeutic dose is much much lower than the "recreational" dose of street
I can see that Ketamine infusion as a treatment for PTSD seems more common in the U.S. There is even a Ketamine Advocacy Network website, which gives really good information about theory & practice of treatment.
Has anybody tried Ketamine infusion? And if so, how did it work out for you, and do you become a slave to going back for top-ups [which is what my doctor fears would happen]?
 
I've tried it recreationally and know of a woman who did the infusions for her ptsd. I think she had ok results but didn't like the atmosphere of the hospital she was tripping at.

I say go for it. I would do anything to get into a psychedelic study. Or do ayahuasca in Peru. Im sure I would have to do a lot of it, only im broke and pretty much living in isolation and constantly suicidal.
 
I've had the ketamine infusion.... It was a bolus infusion and at first I didn't like it at all. I was kinda freaking out but the doctor was great and kept reassuring me I was OK.

Once that part was over I was in the scanner for a good 90 minutes. I felt weird and out of it.. Which took away all anxiety and emotional stuff.

Once I went home they called and asked me if my mood had improved... For me the results didn't last more than a day.
 
I think everyone gets the same as they're trialling the infusion. My doc has referred me, but I understand there's quite a waiting list, even though the course and psychiatrist assessment costs around 1000 USD.
I'll report back if I go ahead.
 
Here's a link to the BBC News item that describes the project Ketamine depression treatment 'should be rolled out' - BBC News

...here in the UK the treatment seems to be focussed on depression, but my personal experience is that the symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder [MDD] are a [quite large] subset of those of my CPTSD, and quite often inseparable.
In the UK, PTSD seems not to be as recognised as much as in the U.S., which I guess is why the focus is on treatment-resistant MDD.
The Ketamine Advocacy Network Introduction to Ketamine Therapymakes a compelling case for the benefits of this treatment for MDD and/or PTSD. It seems quite well established in the U.S., and the body of research means it's probably not snake oil - with which my therapist agrees while urging caution.
So I'm keen [or desperate enough:(] to try it if possible.
Will post about progress...
 
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@tontoe - I would carefully consider whether or not depression factors heavily and unremittingly into your PTSD. If it does not - pursuing a treatment geared at depression could backfire on you.

You are right about cross-symptomology. But depression inside of PTSD can be mild, moderate, or severe.

Has the U.K. started looking at the stellate ganglion block (injection) for PTSD? That would be an experimental treatment possibly more worth your while.
 
@tontoe - I would carefully consider whether or not depression factors heavily an...
Thanks @joeylittle. Wise thoughts, and very helpful :)
Depression seems to be a major feature of my PTSD, and is sometimes more incapacitating [e.g. having to take time off work, cancel seeing others] than PTSD symptoms; the difficulty for me sometimes is differentiating/separating the two - having nightmares/disturbed sleep for long periods leads to my starting the day feeling tired & hopeless, and the ingrained negative affect just keeps it all cooking. It's difficult then to achieve anything near an objective overview.
My depression is long-standing [25+ years] whereas the PTSD diagnosis is more recent [3.5 years]. I guess these are all things that I will need to discuss at the initial assessment with the Psychiatrist running the program.
I've done a search on the
stellate ganglion block
injection; seems it is being done here in the UK, but mainly for physical pain. It is, however, mentioned on a British veterans' website. I'll do some more digging!
Thanks again.
 
pursuing a treatment geared at depression could backfire on you.

this interests me [a lot :) ]. Ketamine Infusion Therapy [I'll call it KIT for short] seems to be targeted differently in the U.S. and the U.K.; a Google search on "ketamine infusion PTSD" brings up a lot of hits - of mainly U.S. sites. I only looked at the first two pages, but nearly all of these seem to be links either to
  • treatment centres offering KIT for PTSD
  • research into efficacy
  • user experiences
  • information about KIT
So in the U.S. at least it seems that KIT is established as a treatment for PTSD or Depression or both.

Doing the same search but adding "UK" as a qualifier ["ketamine infusion PTSD UK"] brings up a lot of hits, but all seem to be focused on KIT as a treatment for depression.

So KIT in the U.K. seems to be regarded primarily as a treatment for depression,
but there are some question marks in the U.K. about long-term efficacy [see Royal College of Psychiatrists' paper Ketamine: stimulating antidepressant treatment? | British Journal of Psychiatry Open]

Maybe this is a function of how the health systems differ in our two countries?

Interestingly, "Big Pharma" now seems to be taking an interest in the potential of low-dose Ketamine therapy Johnson & Johnson Is Reinventing The Party Drug Ketamine To Treat Depression.
However, for the cynical amongst us, it might seem that this interest might mainly take the form of re-engineering Ketamine as a new drug [the original, synthesised in the 1960s, is way out of patent and therefore generates low revenues for pharma companies] which could be patented as a new treatment and generate the kind of high revenues that accrue from holding a patent on a non-generic drug.
According to the above article, Husseini Manji formerly led the mood and anxiety disorders program at the National Institutes of Link Removed, and moved on to J&J. Then four of the NIH scientists who worked on ketamine in depression followed him to J&J. The first of the drugs being developed, "esketamine, is an isomer of ketamine"
The same thing happened with re-engineering of some SSRIs for example, with the new "improved" version of what had become a generic drug once again under patent and able to command a much higher price.
Interesting times!!
 
Ketamine essentially failed US trials for depression treatment, as far as I know. It worked for some but not enough to justify the expense of further trials. It also had some problems.

Once a drug has been dismissed as a treatment for one disorder, it will often move on to another disorder, if there were some results indicating efficacy.

And in the US, this is generally driven partly by scientific interest, partly by economic interest.
 
antidepressants

Don't work for me at all! I've been on at least 6 if not more along with abilify which sucked all on its own. 2 months and none of the exhaustion it was causing lifted so it got flushed.

but I would do pretty much anything to get a little peace from the mental and emotional barrage that is assaulting me and my senses almost constantly.

Since you described it like this, have you tried Seriquel XR (extended release - it seems it's called XL in the UK but basically the extended release, not immediate)? It is an anti-psycotic like Abilify but unlike Abilify, for me, the exhaustion that it caused started to lift in a few days. It took months to titrate to where I stopped, 200mg, but thats cause we took it super slow.

I only thought of that cause you described it that way. I am not sure if "emotional barrage assulting your senses" is just depression or if it's stuff like not being able to stand noises or anger/rage or what but the word emotional stood out to me. It helps the super lows to increase and the super highs (rage in my case) to decrease. It stablized me more then anything out there has and it allowed me to get my feet under me and allow DBT to do its job. With the roller coaster I wasn't able to. So its not normalized like someone without trauma but I am more stable on it then I have been in my life.

Though, I also have BPD and that's the main reason for the roller coaster. So I am not sure if it would be of any help but thought I would mention it in case it could help.

Also, DBT helps emotional deregulation. It might be worth buying the workbook at least. It has and still is serving me well: The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation & ... Tolerance (New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook) Dead Link Removed

I know I didn't answer your question. I've never tried Ketamine. Hope I didn't go off topic too much and hope some of that helps!
 
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